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The Electronic Security Association recently announced that Dr. Joseph Kuhns, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of North Carolina, will be the keynote speaker for the 2017 ESA Leadership Summit, to be held Feb. 12 through Feb. 15 in Tampa, Fla.

“Dr. Kuhns brings extensive experience and knowledge from the world of criminology that will provide attendees with helpful data that can be applied to how they approach the market and work with their customers,” Merlin Guilbeau, CEO of the Electronic Security Association, told Security Systems News in an email interview.

Kuhns will present the general session, entitled “Burglary Victim Adaptations & What Security Businesses Should Know,” on Monday, February 13 at 12:45 p.m.

Security businesses will be given statistics and information that they will be able to use when training employees, marketing their businesses and advising customers on the best methods to secure their premises,” Guilbeau said. “Attendees will also be able to understand the change of mindset post-burglary to better serve the segment of the market that has experienced a break in.”

In ESA’s announcement, Dr. Kuhns said, “Residential burglary victims should know that their chances of being victimized again, following a successful burglary, are frequently high. Therefore, improving their home safety and security, in multiple ways, is highly recommended.”

There will be new features at the upcoming summit, according to Guilbeau, such as a new app for the event’s schedule, details, sponsor information and for communication between attendees. “We are also introducing an attendee engagement tool, so that the audience can interact live with speakers at the Summit,” he said.

“Education and networking are the two key components of the Summit’s program, and we fully expect that this topic and the findings shared by Dr. Kuhns will provide attendees with a lot to discuss with one another during all of the social events,” Guilbeau said.

COPS Monitoring recently announced that it was able to achieve a 12.4 second average response time during Hurricane Matthew—quicker than the company’s 13.9 second average for priority response in the past 12 months. COPS gave credit to its team for the achievement.

“Achieving a 13.9 second response time is difficult enough. When a situation like severe weather causes alarm traffic to increase 20 to 30 percent, it’s not uncommon for many central stations to have response times that are much higher; sometimes minutes, rather than seconds,” David Smith, COPS’ VP of marketing & business development, told Security Systems News via email. “So, the fact that we were able to reduce an already fast response time by more than 10 percent for five straight days despite a significant increase in alarm traffic is truly a remarkable feat.”

“The 12.4 second response time was for all priority alarms nationwide; including the alarms in the areas that were affected,” Smith continued. “Luckily, the eye of the storm stayed off the coast and we only experienced a lot of rain and wind from the outer storm bands.”

COPS had a disaster preparedness plan in place, including having its Boca Raton, Fla., monitoring center built to stand up to a hurricane. “The extensive planning is what gave us the flexibility to allow us to reduce our staff in Florida so they could focus on their own homes and families. Because all the hard work had already been done, planning for Hurricane Matthew involved over-staffing our other central stations to compensate. We have a great team at COPS and there is never a shortage of volunteers – including from our Florida central station.”

In the announcement, Jim McMullen, president and COO of COPS Monitoring, said that the company was planning to reduce the staff in the Boca Raton monitoring center to “just a few essential technical support members. … However, after ensuring their families were safe, several dispatchers committed to working through the storm to help protect our dealers and their subscribers,” McMullen said in a prepared statement.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.—Several reports have come out in the past month looking to quantify growth within security, each illuminating the fact that the industry is growing both here in North America and globally as well.

In terms of the global security market, the first Worldwide Semiannual Security Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC), released last week, forecasts that worldwide revenues for security-related hardware, software, and services will grow from $73.7 billion in 2016 to $101.6 billion in 2020—at a CAGR of 8.3 percent, more than twice the rate of overall IT spending growth over the five-year forecast period.

The largest category of investment will be security-related services, which will account for nearly 45 percent of all security spending worldwide in 2016, and the largest segment within that category, managed security services, is forecast to generate revenues of $13 billion this year. Security software will be the second largest category in 2016, with endpoint security, identity and access management, and security and vulnerability management software driving more than 75 percent of the category's revenues.

The industries making the largest investments in security solutions in 2016 will be banking ($8.6 billion), followed by discrete manufacturing, federal/central government, and process manufacturing. The industries that will see the fastest growth in their security investments will be healthcare, followed by telecommunications, utilities, state/local government, and securities and investment services. Each of these industries will experience CAGRs above 9.0 percent over the forecast period.

Interestingly, one of the fastest growing segments of the security products market will be user-behavior analytics software—growing at a CAGR of 12.2 percent through 2020, an area that many of our "20 under 40" Class of 2016 winners, both integrators and end users, mentioned as one of the most promising technology areas right now in the industry.

Many are working to get to a point where all of the data coming in, including video, can be mined and managed for use with predictive analytics, better time management, faster and more accurate alarm verification, operational efficiencies—the list goes on an on.

The topic also generated a lot of interest in this month's News Poll, where we asked you, our readers, about the top emerging technologies coming out of ASIS 2016 in September. According to 43 percent of respondents, video surveillance and VMS was the most talked about technology at ASIS 2016, with thirty-one percent saying that big data/analytics was the most talked about.

All told, there is a lot to get excited about in the industry right now.

CALHOUN, Ga.—Owen Security Solutions, based here, announced today that it has acquired Tight Security Systems.

Justin Owen, company president, told Security Systems News that the company will continue to grow by acquisitions in the future. “Financially speaking, it just makes too much sense to not go down that road.” The company isn’t looking to complete any before December, he added.

The 600 account addition brings Owen Security's total customer base over the 5000 account mark. Owen said that the company started 2016 with about 3000 accounts.

This is the third acquisition, both this year and in the company's history, for Owen. The company acquired the accounts of Davis Security Services in September, and Medley Systems in July.

Scott Bishop, the owner of Tight Security, will join Owen Security to help the transition. “He’s staying on with us as a hybrid position, [responsible for] business development, service technician, technician trainer,” Owen said.

“Extends our footprint a little bit, geographically speaking. But, for the most part, we’re already overlapping that area with plenty of customers,” Owen said.

Tight Security’s business, based out of Ellijay, Ga., was about 95 percent residential, Owen estimated, with some small retail accounts. Owen Security is about 60 percent residential.

Owen Security and Tight Security are both in small communities, Owen pointed out. “We feel like it's a good culture fit, and we can work with his customers really well,” he said.

Owen Security currently has about 30 employees, but is looking to add on between three and five more before the end of the year, Owen said.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—Convergint Technologies, a global systems integration company with headquarters here, completed its seventh acquisition of the year with the purchase of Go Security Solutions, a systems integrator based in Westborough, Mass.

Dan Moceri, executive chairman and co-founder of Convergint Technologies, told Security Systems News that he is excited to have the Go Security Solutions team join the Convergint family.

“The company fits the criteria that we are looking for, which includes a strong culture—similar to Convergint’s—that is focused on service and the customer,” said Moceri. “They have a great reputation in the marketplace and really bring additional capabilities to extend service to our customers.”

Moceri said the deal increases Convergint’s footprint in the Northeast. “It is a highly populated area, and we need to add resources,” he said. “We are growing in excess of 20 percent, and we are hiring more than a person a day somewhere in the world to support that growth and be able to provide the type of service that our customers have come to expect from us.”

Go Security Solutions is the seventh acquisition that Convergint has completed since January of 2016.

“We continue to grow organically but we also have supplemented that with strategic acquisitions where it makes sense to do that, and in some cases it is geographic coverage,” Moceri explained. “Our business in the northeast has been growing very nicely, and we are hiring people as fast as we can, but in some cases we are supplementing that with key acquisitions that can bring us additional resources.”

What is the key to Convergint’s success? “We invest a lot in the training and development of our team,” said Moceri. “There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into the infrastructure to support the growth, and we’ve spent a lot of time and money identifying the future leaders, and a lot of those leaders will come out of the organization itself, but we also look to some of the acquisitions to supplement the leadership needs of the organization as well.”

In terms of overall growth, Moceri said that Convergint “will get close” to the $600 million revenue mark for 2016, which “is up significantly from the $470 million that we were at last year,” he said.

When asked if Convergint is done on the acquisition front this year, Moceri said, “We’ve got quite a few acquisitions in the pipeline, and now that we are getting toward the end of the year, timing is everything. We have the potential of closing at least one more deal by the end of the year, and we expect to be just as active in 2017 as we were in 2016.”

BOCA RATON, Fla.—ADT has joined PPVAR, the Partnership for Priority Verified Alarm Response, according to an announcement on Monday.

“As a full industry member, ADT is entitled to participate in the ongoing development of best practices between the alarm industry and law enforcement on many different levels,” Larry Folsom, president of PPVAR told Security Systems News in an email interview. “As members, PPVAR stakeholders are moving beyond the ‘wait and see’ of alarm verification evolution, and instead are part of the conversation that is shaping the future.”

Adding ADT assists the organization with its message. “Every voice that joins this conversation helps advance the PPVAR mission of promoting and prioritizing verified alarm response, but gaining the voice of ADT is particularly important,” Folsom said. “This is a company that represents millions of monitoring subscribers across almost every police jurisdiction in the land.”

ADT has a lot to offer in terms of relationships, ideas, time, and resources, Folsom added.

“ADT strongly believes in the process and the values of PPVAR and its members,” Don Young, chief information officer at ADT, said in a prepared statement. “The emergence of high-quality video and intrusion detection technology, and the resulting rise in efficiency of central monitoring practices, has been undeniable in the effectiveness of alarm verification for protecting the public and law enforcement alike.”

Folsom said that ADT has already become involved in the organization. “ADT has hit the ground running and has already expressed interest in helping with the refinement of our best practices and the development of operator training,” according to Folsom.

PPVAR, established in 2012, currently has almost 80 member companies, according to Folsom. “In the long-term, the addition of ADT further stabilizes the organization and ensures its health and vitality well into the future,” he said.

LONDON—The market share of the top 15 security equipment and services companies will continue to grow through 2020, according to latest IHS Markit Physical Security Equipment and Services Report, released this week.

The combined equipment and services market was estimated to be $123.67 billion in 2015, with the equipment market forecast to grow at a CAGR of 8.5 percent to 2020, and the services market forecast to grow at a CAGR 4.5 percent to 2020, according to Oliver Philippou, IHS Markit senior analyst.

“The market share of the top 15 security equipment and services companies accounted for 21.4 percent of the equipment and services market in 2014, growing to 23.1 percent in 2015,” Philippou told Security Systems News, a trend that he expects to continue in 2016 with all of the consolidation that is taking place.

“It is important to note that this market share estimate does not include mergers and acquisitions that have taken place in 2016, such as the merger of Tyco with Johnson Controls, the acquisition of Diebold’s North American electronics security business by Securitas, the acquisition of ADT by Apollo Global Management and merger with Protection 1 and ASG Security,” he explained. “These three deals will further expand the market share of the top 15 security companies.”

IHS estimates that in 2015 Tyco International was the largest supplier to the equipment and services market, comprising 3.8 percent of the market, followed by ADT at 2.9 percent, and the biggest mover, Hikvision at 2.5 percent.

But it is not just large-scale acquisitions that are concentrating supply. “Chinese firms like Hikvision and Dahua Technology have continued to grow much faster than the market average, not only in their domestic market but internationally, too,” said Philippou. “Part of their success has been down to offering products at lower prices than their competitors.”

The report also found that integrators are increasingly leveraging single-vendor solutions to reduce installation costs and focus on the more profitable service and maintenance contracts.

“The market share data of the solutions providers has increased more than the ‘best of breed’ vendors—this was the initial trigger to investigate this,” noted Philippou. “When speaking with integrators we found that the mid- to low end market has seen an increase in the use of solutions providers, [which] allows integrators to get better deals on equipment that is supposed to be easier to install as integration is not as difficult.”

Editor’s note: For this IHS report, the equipment market consists of video surveillance, access control, intruder alarms, entrance control, consumer video surveillance, mobile video surveillance and body-worn cameras, and enterprise storage, while the services market consists of access control as a service (ACaaS), video surveillance as a service (VSaaS), remote monitoring services, and security systems integration.

As the headline suggests, much of the focus here at SSN lately is on the cloud, specifically our second annual Cloud+ conference, which is in Austin, Texas, at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, Nov. 29-30. This year’s conference program is designed to provide answers to many of the questions that manufacturers, integrators and end users have when thinking about going to a cloud-based or cloud-hosted solution.

During my time at ASIS 2016 last week, and speaking with attendees, I found that many who have already ventured into the cloud are seeing positive outcomes, while many more are thinking about and/or looking into how they can leverage the cloud to better serve customers. One take-away from the show and these conversations: Cloud-based technology is transforming the security industry.

In terms of adoption, the public sector is embracing the cloud in a big way. A new study that came out this week reveals that 82 percent of public sector cloud adopters say their agency or institution will increase spending on cloud computing in 2017, including 85 percent federal, 81 percent higher education and 76 percent state and local, according to a new report, Destination Cloud: The Federal and SLED Cloud Journey, by MeriTalk, a public-private partnership focused on improving the outcomes of government IT.

The five-year outlook is even more interesting, with plans to nearly double cloud use from 35 percent up to 60 percent, the study found.

Public sector cloud adopters are stepping on the gas, according to the report, from police stations and state colleges to our nation’s capital. Today, 55 percent of cloud adopters are evaluating cloud solutions as part of their overall IT strategy and the remaining 45 percent are evaluating cloud solutions for a limited number of specific applications.

Early cloud adopters report that cost saving is a key cloud driver—65 percent of federal, 67 percent of state and local, and 59 percent of higher education. In addition, respondents say they now look to cloud options first when considering new investments—65 percent federal, 56 percent state and local, and 63 percent higher education.

Those investments have huge returns, according to the report. Public sector cloud adopters see improvements in productivity, customer services, and cost savings by moving applications to the cloud.

This is why Cloud+ is such an essential conference, as it provides the perfect forum for mapping out a strategy and plan moving forward into this great new technological frontier that we call the cloud.

HAGERSTOWN, Md.—Dynamark announced in late September a new funding program for its alarm dealers, allowing dealers to get loans for their accounts.

Hank Groff, senior VP of sales and business development for Dynamark, told Security Systems News that the funding program is a new approach for the company. “It really is fulfilling a demand by security companies across the country of providing a financial solution for them to continue to be independent and working with a central station that provides them financial solutions,” he said.

The program will have two options, Groff explained. The first is its Account Loan Program, where a dealer will get a loan for each account they bring online. The second is the Credit Line Program, allowing dealers access to a line of credit.

“The first option is best utilized for someone who is either a start up, and doesn't have the reoccurring monthly revenue, or who has been a long-time security dealer, selling their paper through a funding program,” Groff said.

Dynamark is partnering with two financial institutions to provide the funding, Groff said.

Alongside this option, the company will also continue to buy accounts directly from dealers, it said in the announcement.

The option to sell accounts to Dynamark benefits dealers in the program, according to Groff. “The benefit is, if down the road they ever choose to sell any of these accounts, because they’re already with us … they can present the portfolio to us or any percentage [of their portfolio], we can look at it—we already know that it’s being monitored with us—and we can make an easy transaction.”

Before joining the program, dealers can get a consultation from one of Dynamark’s regional managers, without any commitment, the company said.

Security professionals from around the world converged on the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Sept. 12-15, for ASIS International’s 62nd Annual Seminar and Exhibits conference. ASIS International, which has more than 35,000 members and 34 councils, provided an ideal setting for learning, networking and exploring the latest and greatest products on the show floor.

At the opening general session, ASIS President David C. Davis spoke about the importance of the inaugural Security Week, which was held in conjunction with the conference, noting that Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer “thanked him” for organizing it, particularly in the wake of the most recent tragic shootings in Orlando.

ASIS International’s new executive vice president and CEO Peter O’Neil addressed attendees at the opening session as well, telling the packed reception hall that he is “awed by the dedication and commitment” to the industry by ASIS members. He also spoke about a “new strategic plan,” and promised to look at all aspects of the organization in an effort to make improvements, be more efficient and a better resource for members.

ASIS International also highlighted the three security certifications that are available for members, including PSP, CPP and PSI certifications. Several members who recently achieved one, two and all three of these designations were brought on stage to be honored for helping to continue to drive the industry forward.

One of the highlights outside the classroom and exhibit hall was keynote speaker Ted Koppel, whose bestselling book Lights Out has garnered a lot of attention for raising awareness of the possible threat of a cyber attack on our nation’s three power grids. He noted that a cyber attack on just one grid alone would leave tens of millions of people without power for months, telling the riveted audience, “I researched this book for a year and a half, and as best as I can determine, there is no plan,” he said. The government, including major cities like Manhattan, do not have a viable plan in place to provide the kind of support—most notably food, water and sanitary conditions—that would be required in the wake of such an incident, he explained.

Koppel pointed out that countries like Russia and China are already able to hack into our power grid, but because of so many common interests these countries have with the U.S., it is unlikely that they would attempt such an attack. But, he said that it is just a matter of time before a country like Syria or an organization such as ISIS has that same capability, but the difference is, they will “not hesitate to act on it,” he said.

He also shared a funny story of trying to make it through two airports without any identification after he had lost his wallet. Koppel said that many of the TSA agents recognized him immediately, but that wasn’t enough, so he asked them to Google his name, at which point several images with his name and bio popped up. “Isn’t this enough proof of my identity?” Koppel said, in that iconic dry wit and delivery that we have all come to associate with great journalism. He got through security, but his eventual point was, the government won’t make the kind of investment needed to provide for such a cyber disaster but is willing to pour billions into creating and maintaining the TSA, which he pointed out, when it has been tested, has an astonishing “95 percent failure rate,” said Koppel

In addition, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and FBI director James Comey spoke during the conference, emphasizing the need for the public sector to work more closely with the private sector to help secure the security of this nation.

On the show floor, attendees had an opportunity to see demos and check out for themselves all of the new technology available, including the next evolution of cameras; VMS with a wide range of analytic capabilities; mobile access/remote credentialing, verification and controlling; cybersecurity; robots; drones; K9s; and a ton more.

Another overriding theme on the show floor was interoperability, and many exhibitors highlighted their many recent integration successes with other manufacturers, enabling them to offer integrators and end users the options and solutions they are asking for.

The following is a summation of SSN editor Paul Ragusa’s three days on the trade show floor.

Day One

Milestone Systems, a provider of VMS solutions, highlighted its many integrations. Milestone’s manager of PR & communications Courtney Dillon Pederson said that Milestone’s “seamless open platform” includes “hundreds of partners, from storage to video analytics to RF spotter.” The company also offers a system-hardening guide for customers.

Jonathan Lewit, the new chair of ONVIF’s Communication Committee and director of Technology Leadership for Pelco, spoke about the final release of ONVIF’s Profile Q, which provides “easy set-up and installation for integrators and end users,” he said. He also talked about ONVIF’s work with the IEC and the soon to be released Profile A for access control.

DMP showcased products that include new features for end users, new tools for dealers, more wireless devices, and a focus on panel and video communications. DMP also announced that The Company Store, which allows the dealer into the DIY market, will go live this month. The Company Store was unveiled at ISC West in April and is for dealers that want to participate in the new millennial marketplace, without having to invest millions in back-end fulfillment

Feenics director of sales Brian Matthews said the company’s integration with Allegion allows customers to “leverage both the security and convenience of the Schlage wireless locks while harnessing the power of an open, cloud-based security platform.” Keep by Feenics is a cloud-based access control and ID management platform based on industry standard hardware.

Joseph Granitto, Morse Watchman’s director of technology solutions, demoed the company’s wide range of asset protection products, including AssetWatcher, which uses RFID technology to provide secure lockers for asset protection. The company’s KeyWatcher technology is “10 times as fast with 10 times the memory,” said Granitto.

Hikvision showcased its video surveillance solutions and services for the enterprise market. To compete in the enterprise space, Bob Germain, Hikvision director of product management said, “you have to have a broad product range, and solutions that are tailored to vertical markets like education, retail and critical infrastructure.” He said that the company “works with integrators to meet their needs and their customers’ needs.”

Allied Universal CEO Steve Jones said the combination of its security professionals with its new “Machines as a Service” robots helped to ensure a safe and secure environment at this year’s conference. “It is a great example of us integrating technology and our manguarding force,” said Ty Richmond, president, national accounts and integrated security systems for Allied Universal.

Sharad Shekhar, CEO, Pelco; SVP Schneider Electric, said the security camera and surveillance company will have “a new line of cameras out before the end of the year.” Shekhar said the company is developing SMEs across all of its cross-functional vertical teams, in addition to its advanced technology engineering team, which are all driving “innovation withing product development,” he said.

Global surveillance company IDIS showcased the next generation of its Total Solution offerings, including the most powerful and feature-rich 4K NVR brought to market by IDIS to date; the IDIS Smart UX Controls; and the IDIS Solution Suite, a “powerful VMS among the industry’s most functional and flexible,” said Benjamin Bryant, public relations consultant for IDIS. Additionally, IDIS partner and homeland security solutions specialist Edge360 exhibited its Rapidly Redeployable Mobile Surveillance Solution in the IDIS Technology Partners section.

Jim Hoffpauir, president of Zenitel USA, said his company is trying to “change the paradigm when it comes to intelligible audio,” which he said is “achievable.” He spoke about innovations around intelligible voice communication and criteria users can evaluate when making security decisions for their organization. Zenitel has created a scorecard to help understand and tailor each solution to each user’s need.

Matthew Ladd, president and COO of the Protection Bureau, spoke about Security-Net, which is made up of 21 systems integration companies all working together to fulfill the needs of a vast network of national accounts. Established in 1993, Security-Net maintains approximately 60 regional offices and 1,400 dedicated professionals.

Princeton Identity, formerly SRI Identity, highlighted its iris biometric technology now being used with Samsung products. Mark Clifton, CEO of Princeton Identity, said the entire biometrics line of business from SRI is now part of Princeton Identity, which will help the company focus on completing its next generation of products. Clifton said by “getting the cost out of iris technology,” there will be “wider adoption.”

Andres Caballero, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Building Solutions, discussed how “we are helping organizations use their buildings as business drivers with integrated technologies and new technology innovations.” These include technologies that improve building insight and control, improve end user engagement, from occupants to building managers, and empower end users to be more active participants in their environments. Keith Jentoft, Integration Team, Honeywell Security and Fire, spoke about the benefits of Honeywell’s purchase of his video verification company Videofied (RSI Video Technologies).

Rochelle Thompson, senior director of global marketing for Quantum Secure by HID, said the company’s physical identity and access management platform “automates the process” for all aspects of management, “lowering the risk posture of the organization.” Quantum Secure’s SAFE Software Suite solution is designed for managing identities and provisioning access in any physical security infrastructure.

Quantum Corp. VP of intelligence, surveillance and security, Wayne Arvidson said that when it comes to storage, “there is a new set of dynamics” with all of the info and data coming from cameras today. Storage solutions today are much more “scalable and configurable out of the gate,” he said, and the industry continues to see an evolution in capacity with lower cost.

Day Two

Wes Moore, FLIR’s director of marketing, security, highlighted the integration of its thermal security cameras with VMS, and how integrations such as this help FLIR provide a “total end-to-end solution,” he said. The open VMS platform makes it easy to integrate, with thousands of cameras already integrated.

Galaxy Control Systems executive vice president Rick Caruthers highlighted the company’s reinforced customer-first focus including new partners and integrations to provide cloud-based, real-time managed access and monitoring. Integrations with Bold Technologies, Dynamark and Advanced Access Security are “driving cost-effective hosted access control solutions,” he said, “which are getting a lot of traction.”

Altronix, a designer and manufacturer of low voltage electronics for the video surveillance, security, fire, access control and automation markets, premiered some new products including the eBridge 8-Port EoC Receiver with Integral PoE+ Switch, as well as the NetWay4EWP Managed PoE+ Hardened Switch with 1GB Fiber Uplink for long distance applications. The “expanding eBridge with LINQ technology creates RMR for companies,” said Kirby Han, art director.

OnSSI VP, sales & marketing, Ken LaMarca highlighted some of the company’s latest enhancements to its Ocularis VMS, which now provides “even greater stability, more robust security, new integrations and innovative features,” he said. The Ocularis platform also features new technology partnerships and new products from existing partners, enabling the company “to offer additional features and capabilities beyond typical VMS applications,” he said.

Moti Shabtai, president, Qognify, formerly NICE Security, provided an overview of its Suspect Search, real time video analytics software that helps users locate and track specific people, expediting forensic video searches. He said Qognify’s new operational intelligence module for Situator helps organizations “better leverage the masses of data flowing into their control centers,” by monitoring large volumes of data and detecting deviations in leading indicators, which are often precursors to incidents and unfolding events.

Dean Drako, Eagle Eye Networks president and CEO, highlighted the company’s new Cloud Video Replication, which delivers cloud video backup for legacy DVR, NVR and video managementsystems. He said that organizations can “extend the capabilities of their existing video surveillance system” to include an off-site or long term copy of their video. On the Brivo side, Brivo’s CEO Steve Van Till said the company’s Partner Portal, which is in preview mode, is a “great tool for dealers,” and is getting a good response so far.

Kevin Wine, Verint’s VP of marketing for video and situation intelligence solutions, provided a glimpse into the company’s analytics capabilities, which includes a “deep-rooted suite of analytics that allows users to gain crucial insight,” from the data that is mined, captured and processed. This provides a “big picture” that includes actionable intelligence for enterprise-level threat protection and situation intelligence solutions, he said.

Pivot3’s Brandon Reich, senior director of surveillance solutions, said the company is “solving the data storage problem” within video surveillance. He said that the goal is to bridge the gap between physical security and IT for integrators. This past year the company introduced Edge Protect, which takes “enterprise-class solutions and makes them available to small- to medium-sized businesses as well,” he said.

Ross McKey, director of products for Lenel, which is part of the UTC family, spoke about the launch of the company’s mobile credentialing solution, which is a virtual credential that provides a “safer extra factor of authentication,” he said. McKey said he sees “an explosion in the mobile credentialing market” over the next few years, providing “security on demand, anywhere you are.”

Fredrik Nilsson, VP, Americas, Axis Communications, unveiled the first joint venture between Axis and Canon, a high-end product where “professional photography meets video surveillance,” he said. It was announced prior to ASIS that Axis will assume responsibility for the marketing and sales of Canon’s entire network video product portfolio in North America starting Oct. 1, which shows “Canon’s strong commitment to build a long-term presence for Axis in the market,” said Nilsson.

Tom Cook, VP of sales, North America for Hanwha Techwin, said that the camera company was featuring “46 new products to show our strength,” he said. “We are doubling down on product development, and we are one of the few who design our own processors and chips.” He highlighted the company’s Q Series, a quality line with 24 models that are “competitively priced,” as well as the company’s P Series, which is the premium line featuring 10 models.

The Protection 1 exhibit marked the company’s first appearance with ADT since the announcement of their integration in May 2016. Protection 1 has expanded its footprint with ADT and showcased Cyber Security, eSuite2.0, Network Managed Services and Remote Video Services. “We’re bringing together the breadth of ADT’s footprint with Protection 1’s excellent customer service and state-of-the-art solutions to provide the ultimate protection for our customers,” said Bob Dale, senior vice president, national account sales, Protection 1.

Andrew Elvish, VP, marketing and product management for Genetec, an open-platform software provider for large enterprise locations, said the company is launching Mission Control, which allows users to “take the alarm, qualify it, and then take meaningful action,” he said. The company also highlighted Stratocast, a unique service that records video in the cloud, eliminating the need for any on-premises servers, which is ideal for small-scale operations, he said.

Stephen Carney, TycoSP senior director, video and integrations solutions, highlighted the company’s “purely open network” that has allowed the it to provide a comprehensive network of integrated products to offer the best solutions. The solutions include the Complete Security Solution, an integrated package of video surveillance, intrusion, and access control that allows small- to mid-sized business customers to access and manage video, intrusion and access control from one, single interface. Also on display were identity and biometric authentication solutions from Innometriks.

Oncam’s Jumbi Edulbehram, regional president, Americas, provided an overview of the increasing capabilities of the company’s 360-degree fish-eye cameras. The cameras are “omni-directional, providing one solution to cover a large space,” he said, and now feature cloud capability. With the cloud service, “it provides the ability to access and manage your entire system on any device,” he said. A suite of analytics is coming soon.

Day Three

Mitchell Kane, president, Vanderbilt Industries, said that the company is focused on “strategic expansion through integration.” The company recently acquired Access Control Technology (ACT), a Dublin-based company that designs and manufactures enterprise level and cloud-based access control and video management solutions. ACT365 is a cloud-hosted system that provides value to the end user as well as possible RMR for integrators.

March Networks, a global provider of intelligent IP video solutions, unveiled a new Security Audit tool to help systems integrators evaluate and improve the security of their video installation configurations. Daniel Cremins, global product management leader for March Networks, said the GURU Security Audit provides technicians with “a very quick and convenient way of assessing the security of the configuration by running through a checklist and offering fixes for possible errors.” The company’s new ME4 Series IP Cameras capture critical detail in all lighting without straining network and storage resources.

TycoIS VP & general manager Joseph Oliveri highlighted the company’s product innovations, including its technology center in Tel Aviv, Israel. “We are always looking for new concepts and new technologies that we can bring to market or champion to help our customers,” said Oliveri. TycoIS announced prior to the show that it will partner with EyeLock LLC, a company that specializes in iris-based identity authentication solutions, to offer iris identity authentication technology to its customers.

Allegion showcased its Schlage LE Series wireless lock for mortise doors and other innovative products. Benjamin Hopkins, product manager, commercial electronic locks, said the LE Series features ENGAGE technology, which is designed to affordably extend electronic access control deeper into the building. Allegion also worked with Feenics to provide a new offering that will integrate the Schlage NDE Series wireless locks with ENGAGE Technology and the Keep by Feenics cloud-hosted access control and security management platform.

Bryan Sanderford, national sales manager, Dortronics Systems, showcased the company’s recently released 4800 Series Smart Interlock Controllers that can be “user configured in the field,” he said, to accommodate up to five doors with ample flexibility for various input/output configurations. Dortronics also showcased its lineup of handicap accessible push button switches.

AMAG Technology, a provider security management systems, highlighted its Symmetry system, which provides a scalable enterprise platform that integrates with the facilities and IT systems to deliver command and control for access control and video surveillance, including capabilities for audit readiness and advanced reporting. AMAG’s Symmetry Blue is a new Bluetooth reader that delivers a highly secure, convenient and intuitive alternative to open doors. The reader combines Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with card reading capabilities to deliver integrated access control for Symmetry customers, according to Kim Rahfaldt, public relations manager.

HID director of global public relations and corporate communications, Anthony Petrucci, said, “the next frontier for the company is mobile,” including compliance in a mobile environment and ensuring safe corporate networks. The company’s solutions and services address the specific needs of government, healthcare, corporate/enterprise, financial and education markets, including mobility solutions that “transform the user experience by making it possible to confidently connect and use more applications on-the-go,” said Petrucci.

Assa Abloy’s senior product manager, Benjamin Williams, outlined the many steps the company is taking to “provide more sustainable features, and minimize its carbon footprint,” he said. With a multitude of both wired and wireless lock options available, he said the company is working with integrators to show the savings that can be achieved through its sustainable products, including ease of installation and a reduction in power usage for users.

Arteco, a global provider of event-driven intelligent video management solutions, continues to “experience significant adoption of its Video Event Management Solutions (VEMS)” in target markets, such as education, critical infrastructure and commercial, according to Steve Birkmeier, VP, sales and business development. He said that customers including USS Iowa and Lexus of Lakeway have experienced streamlined integration, shortened tactical response times, and better visitor and customer service through the incorporation of the company’s event-based intelligence solutions.

Arecont Vision VP of marketing Jeff N. Whitney, highlighted the company’s new products, including its new cameras, which are “made in America,” and feature auto-focus and are “easy to install and use,” he said. With everything developed and engineered in-house, Whitney said that the company strives to “stay at the forefront, leading the way in megapixel technology,” he said.

Kyle Gordon, VP campus solutions, Stanley Security, spoke about making the most of access control data. He said that feedback from customers indicates that they are looking for smarter ways “to leverage the data” that they are amassing. Gordon said that analytics can help integrators use that “big data to their advantage,” including creating risk profiles and improving overall operational efficiencies.

Securitas Electronic Security, formerly Diebold Security, introduced a strategic brand transition that will leverage the global brand recognition and reputation of Securitas while integrating the seven-decade legacy and unparalleled security expertise of Diebold Security. “We are excited and proud to introduce the new face of unparalleled security through Securitas Electronic Security,” said Felix Gonzales, senior vice president, strategy and business development, Securitas ES.